Exodus 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Works in All Things - September 23, 2021

There are so many things we don’t know. We don’t know if the economy will dip or if our team will win. We don’t know what our spouse is thinking or how our kids will turn out. And Scripture reminds us we don’t even know “what we ought to pray for” (Romans 8:26).

But according to Paul’s words in Romans 8:28, we can be absolutely certain about four things. We know: God works; he is ceaseless and tireless. God works for our ultimate good. God works for the good of those who love him. And God works in all things. Not a few things, in all things.

Puppet in the hands of fortune or fate? Not you. You are in the hands of a living, loving God. Your life: a crafted narrative written by a good God who’s working for your supreme good.

Exodus  5

Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh

After that Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh. They said, “God, the God of Israel, says, ‘Free my people so that they can hold a festival for me in the wilderness.’”

2 Pharaoh said, “And who is God that I should listen to him and send Israel off? I know nothing of this so-called ‘God’ and I’m certainly not going to send Israel off.”

3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can worship our God lest he strike us with either disease or death.”

4-5 But the king of Egypt said, “Why on earth, Moses and Aaron, would you suggest the people be given a holiday? Back to work!” Pharaoh went on, “Look, I’ve got all these people freeloading, and now you want to reward them with time off?”

6-9 Pharaoh took immediate action. He sent down orders to the slave-drivers and their underlings: “Don’t provide straw for the people for making bricks as you have been doing. Make them get their own straw. And make them produce the same number of bricks—no reduction in their daily quotas! They’re getting lazy. They’re going around saying, ‘Give us time off so we can worship our God.’ Crack down on them. That’ll cure them of their whining, their god-fantasies.”

10-12 The slave-drivers and their underlings went out to the people with their new instructions. “Pharaoh’s orders: No more straw provided. Get your own straw wherever you can find it. And not one brick less in your daily work quota!” The people scattered all over Egypt scrambling for straw.

13 The slave-drivers were merciless, saying, “Complete your daily quota of bricks—the same number as when you were given straw.”

14 The Israelite foremen whom the slave-drivers had appointed were beaten and badgered. “Why didn’t you finish your quota of bricks yesterday or the day before—and now again today?”

15-16 The Israelite foremen came to Pharaoh and cried out for relief: “Why are you treating your servants like this? Nobody gives us any straw and they tell us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look at us—we’re being beaten. And it’s not our fault.”

17-18 But Pharaoh said, “Lazy! That’s what you are! Lazy! That’s why you whine, ‘Let us go so we can worship God.’ Well then, go—go back to work. Nobody’s going to give you straw, and at the end of the day you better bring in your full quota of bricks.”

19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in a bad way, having to go back and tell their workers, “Not one brick short in your daily quota.”

20-21 As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. The foremen said to them, “May God see what you’ve done and judge you—you’ve made us stink before Pharaoh and his servants! You’ve put a weapon in his hand that’s going to kill us!”

22-23 Moses went back to God and said, “My Master, why are you treating this people so badly? And why did you ever send me? From the moment I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, things have only gotten worse for this people. And rescue? Does this look like rescue to you?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, September 23, 2021

Today's Scripture
Malachi 4:1–3
(NIV)

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

“Surely the day is coming;j it will burn like a furnace.k All the arrogantl and every evildoer will be stubble,m and the day that is coming will set them on fire,n” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a brancho will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name,p the sun of righteousnessq will rise with healingr in its rays. And you will go out and frolics like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will tramplet on the wicked; they will be ashesu under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

Insight

The two word pictures used in Malachi 4:2—“the sun of righteousness” and “healing in its rays—”stand in contrast with the verses on either side. Judgment comes into focus in verse 1, “[the day] will burn like a furnace,” and in verse 3, the prophet says the wicked “will be ashes under the soles of your feet.” On the other hand, how exhilarating it is to think of “healing rays” from the “sun of righteousness” (referring to the manifestations of God’s kindness; see Luke 1:78–79). Then there’s the lively activity pictured in the words, “And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (Malachi 4:2). The blessed well-being vividly portrayed in this verse is the portion of those “who revere my name.” Revere is the translation of the Hebrew word yaw-ray'. This word is also used in 2:5 and 3:5 to remind God’s people to revere and fear Him in their worship. By: Arthur Jackson

Frolicking in Freedom

You will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
Malachi 4:2

A third-generation farmer, Jim was so moved when he read “You who revere my name . . . will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (Malachi 4:2) that he prayed to receive Jesus’ offer of eternal life. Vividly recalling his own calves’ leaps of excitement after exiting their confined stalls at high speed, Jim finally understood God’s promise of true freedom.

Jim’s daughter told me this story because we’d been discussing the imagery in Malachi 4, where the prophet made a distinction between those who revered God’s name, or remained faithful to Him, and those who only trusted in themselves (4:1–2). The prophet was encouraging the Israelites to follow God at a time when so many, including the religious leaders, disregarded God and His standards for faithful living (1:12–14; 3:5–9). Malachi called the people to live faithfully because of a coming time when God would make the final distinction between these two groups. In this context, Malachi used the unexpected imagery of a frolicking calf to describe the unspeakable joy that the faithful group will experience when “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays” (4:2).

Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise, bringing the good news that true freedom is available to all people (Luke 4:16–21). And one day, in God’s renewed and restored creation, we’ll experience this freedom fully. What indescribable joy it will be to frolic there! By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced freedom in Jesus? What other images help you to visualize joy?

Jesus, help me to live joyfully as I remember the freedom only You provide.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 23, 2021
The Missionary’s Goal

He…said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" —Luke 18:31

In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.

In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”

“…there they crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ‘up to Jerusalem.’ ”

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed

Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 1-3; Galatians 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 23, 2021
In Touch With the Tower - #9054

I was meeting with an FAA official in preparation to speak at a meeting of private pilo

I was meeting with an FAA official in preparation to speak at a meeting of private pilots. Actually, the only pilot I know much about is Pontius Pilot, but I had been asked to speak on the subject of peace and stress. Mr. FAA happened to mention to me that there were 10,000 private pilots in the New York area. That's when I became especially grateful for a special group of people called flight controllers. When you're up there in an airplane, and you think about all the other airplanes that are up there with you, it's nice to know that the pilot isn't just trying to figure out by himself where to fly. All across the country, he's got the help of that man or woman in the tower who can see the whole picture of what's going on in the sky or even on the ground. And that pilot doesn't check in, oh just every once in a while. No, he or she makes sure that they stay in touch with the tower!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "In Touch With the Tower."

A pilot needs to stay in constant contact with the person who guides him through his entire flight. And as we try to pilot the life that God has given to us through all the "dangers, toils, and snares," we really need to stay in touch with our Flight Controller in heaven; the God who can see what we could never see, who can guide us on a path that we could never figure out on our own.

I've been tremendously challenged recently and inspired by a man in the Bible who understood that prayer isn't just some spiritual compartment in your life - it's an all-day lifestyle. Nehemiah ultimately learned that he was God's man to lead the seeming "Mission Impossible" of rebuilding God's city walls and gates against tremendous odds and opposition. He worked for the most powerful man in the world, the king of Persia. When the king discovers his servant's deep burden for the plight of Jerusalem, he suddenly asks Nehemiah a loaded question, "What is it you want?"

In Nehemiah 2:4-5, our word for today from the Word of God, he says, "Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king." I like that. Pray, then answer. He probably didn't kneel down right there in the throne room, bow his head, close his eyes, and fold his hands. But in his heart, he knew that he had to get instructions from the tower before he flew into answering this all-important question. The result, by the way, was the king's full support of the project and resourcing the project that God had laid on Nehemiah's heart.

When Nehemiah had first gotten a report on the devastation of God's city, the Bible says, "When I heard these things...for some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." (Nehemiah 1:4). Praying before you answer someone. Praying when you get bad news. When enemies threatened an attack, it says, "We prayed to our God and posted a guard" (Nehemiah 4:9). All right, that's praying about obstacles and dangers. When he was wearing out, Nehemiah says, "I prayed, 'Now strengthen my hands.'" (Nehemiah 6:9).

You see it? It's a powerful secret of spiritual greatness to pray your way through your day, not just when it's your "prayer time." Pray before you make that call, pray before you write that letter or that text, or that email. Pray before you turn on your computer or the television, pray before a date, pray before a deal, before a purchase, pray before you decide, pray before you start your day, pray before you go to sleep at night.

Stay in touch with heaven. As the Bible says, "Pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That's how you'll avoid a crash. That's how you'll avoid a course that will cost you. That's how you'll arrive safely at your destination. Throughout your flight, my friend, stay in constant touch with the Tower!